Kind of fitting, in hindsight, that Angus Scrimm and the Phantasm series died alongside the video stores.
End of an era. Siri, play Landslide.
Anyway. Let's talk about PHANTASM: RAVAGER vs. TOP GUN: MAVERICK.
In TOP GUN: MAVERICK, Maverick's an eternally young daredevil hotshot jet pilot with a cool motorcycle. In Phantasm, Reggie Bannister is an ice cream man and acoustic guitar guy turned monster hunter with a cool muscle car. Both men possess major lame-dad energy. Both men are positioned as cool dudes we should admire. But there are key differences that, in my mind, make Reggie Bannister a superior hero.
Everything Maverick does is perfect. Perfect smile, perfect body, perfect moves, perfect charm. On the rare occasion that Maverick does not succeeed; he fails perfectly. Nobody can best him. One running joke throughout the TOP GUN films is that nobody can successfully tell Maverick what to do. Everytime somebody bosses him around, there will be some sort of embarassing comeuppance. Maverick is ageless in Ray Bans. He is bigger than the universe of the film he inhabits. Part of that is because he's Tom Cruise, and the idea of "Tom Cruise" carries a lot of baggage that's impossible to avoid. When we watch Top Gun, there is never a single moment when we lose track of the fact that we are watching Tom Cruise do cool shit. (In fact...it is fun to think about what it would look like if Top Gun pulled a Phantasm and Tom Cruise simply played a character named "Tom Cruise" who also happened to be a fighter pilot). Maverick conquers all.
The biggest obstacles that Maverick faces in the new TOP GUN movie are his bar tab, his relationship with his son-figure, and various authorities who have the balls to think they can control him. He has no real antagonist. His foes in the final battle are literally referred to "The Enemy." The simple truth is that, within the TOP GUN universe, nothing is greater than Maverick. Nothing can threaten him other than the consequences of his own actions. Maverick is the unquestionable center of the TOP GUN universe, and watching him navigate a universe that cannot threaten him deprives the audience of any kind of catharsis or sympathy. It's just an exercise. We are watching the labors of Hercules without that tale's tragic conclusion.
Reggie, the protagonist of PHANTASM: RAVAGER, is a hot dumpster fire in comparison. He's not perfect. He makes mistakes. He suffers. He's kind of stupid. He's not handsome. In fact, unlike Maverick, Reggie looks old. He has visibly aged over the course of the series. Like Maverick, Reggie is attempting to perform divorced-dad magic by keeping the same haircut he's had since the 80's. Maverick hasn't changed, but his universe accomodates this and his place as the unquestioned god-king of the world of TOP GUN is assured. Reggie has changed, but his sad droopy old-man pony-tail gives him an air of tragedy that adds to his story. He is often the target of mockery.
Reggie has no control over the world around him, and when he attempts to take control it inevitably goes wrong. One running joke throughout the Phantasm films is that Reggie will always pick up an attractive female hitchhiker, and something implausible and terrible will happen to him because of it. Maverick inflicts deleriously insane shit upon his universe and nobody can stop him. Deleriously insane shit is inflicted upon Reggie on a regular basis, yet he persists. He has traveled through time. He has been pulled into other dimensions and planets. He has battled weird pseudo-Jawas and flying death spheres. He's been cut adrift in time and space. He even battles with the idea of himself as a metatextual film concept (unlike the weaker Tom Cruise, who wallows in it) Reggie is an average everyman locked into a struggle beyond his comprehension. But, Reggie's antagonist has a name and a history. The Tall Man is an iconic and well-respected B-movie monster. Throughout the course of the films, it becomes clear that Reggie and the The Tall Man are locked in an eternal mortal struggle that neither can truly win. Their conflict is Sisyphean. Both PHANTASM: RAVAGER and TOP GUN: MAVERICK deal with heavy themes about men growing old. Reggie is not ageless. His struggle is ageless. Maverick defies his mortality. Reggie Bannisters wrestles with it. For me, it is a far more satisfying experience to watch Reggie try than it is to watch Maverick win. I say that this makes Reggie Bannister the more interesting, well-rounded, and well-written character.
Having said all that, I do wish that PHANTASM: RAVAGER had more scenes where Reggie and The Tall Man talk openly about their relationship. Consider the following exchange:
REGGIE: Go to hell!
THE TALL MAN: Yours or mine? In fact, one might say that we're already in it. Together.
In my favorite scene, in the Old West hospital, Reggie and The Tall Man have a brief conversation about death and aging that is filled with well-earned pathos. The fact that this was Angus Scrimm's final film as his most famous character before his death adds a heavy meta-sadness to the proceedings:
Oh, I've lost so many friends.
And I'm afraid this body of mine is almost finished.
You know, Reggie. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings,
But I believe they bring us here...to die.
(In Tall Man Voice) You'll never be safe.
I rest my case. Phantasm is clearly the superior series.
Plus, Reggie Bannister writes and performs his own music on the soundtrack.
Tom Cruise could never.
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